In the early days of automotive vehicles the seats provided little comfort to the vehicle occupant. Early vehicle seat backs, in fact, did not use seat springs, but instead were only piled material covered with leather. Later seat backs used springs, but for many years only the seat style and type of covering material changed, with coil springs being used in automotive applications for decades.
Recognizing that many drivers required back support to compensate for back pain brought on through disease, injury or age, some auto seat suppliers began to offer specific types of focused back relief in the form of supplemental lumbar support. Some supports were adjustable by the user. These types of lumbar support mechanisms are embodied in fluid bladders that are connected to fluid pumps. The seat occupant can manipulate an inflator button to adjust the volume of fluid in the bladder.
Manufacturers also provided seats which are adjustable between a broad variety of different positions. This is particularly true with respect to the vehicle seat back which, while fixed in position in early vehicles, is able to move between a number of positions, from almost vertical to almost horizontal.
However, due to the increasing number of interior packaging constraints such as cup holders, map pockets, and side impact energy absorbers, manufacturers have found that additional seat travel and adjustment the packaging of both the manual recliner and the manual lumber handle is becoming more difficult.
Accordingly, a need exists today for an improved system for providing a mechanism for controlling both movement of the vehicle seat back as well as the lumbar mechanism on the vehicle seat.